Monday Smackdown: There's Something in the Water at the New York TImes

If they stay around there too long, they fall victim to the culture and start purveying misinformation. Here from last February we have Neil Irwin claiming that part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs are "unemployed". They are not. They are working.

Why do this, Neil? It misinforms your readers. It destroys your own credibility:

Donald Trump seems quite certain that the real unemployment rate is higher than the 4.9 percent that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported it to be. A lot higher. “Don’t believe these phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5 percent unemployment,” Mr. Trump said in his victory speech after the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night. “The number’s probably 28, 29, as high as 35. In fact, I even heard recently 42 percent.” Mr. Trump might be bombastic, but he’s not entirely wrong....

There is no “true” unemployment rate.... The B.L.S. itself reports six different unemployment rates, of which the one the press most commonly cites is called U-3... [the] 4.9 percent “official” unemployment rate.... It’s easy to see how you can get to a much larger unemployment rate.... Take the B.L.S.’s broadest definition of unemployment for example, known as U-6.... U-6 includes not just those 7.8 million people who have actively sought work... but also millions more who... wanted a job and had looked for one in the last year...along with people who are working part time but would prefer a full-time job...

But, Neil, the BLS does not say that U-6 is its "broadest definition of unemployment". The BLS says U-6 is one of its "six alternative measures of labor underutilization":

Unemployment is unemployment. Its definition makes sense. Those truly out of the labor force do not call themselves unemployed. Surveys show that very few of those who have not actively looked for a job in the past month think of themselves as or call themselves "unemployed". Those with a job do not call themselves unemployed.

Comments

Monday Smackdown: There's Something in the Water at the New York TImes

If they stay around there too long, they fall victim to the culture and start purveying misinformation. Here from last February we have Neil Irwin claiming that part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs are "unemployed". They are not. They are working.

Why do this, Neil? It misinforms your readers. It destroys your own credibility:

Donald Trump seems quite certain that the real unemployment rate is higher than the 4.9 percent that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported it to be. A lot higher. “Don’t believe these phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5 percent unemployment,” Mr. Trump said in his victory speech after the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night. “The number’s probably 28, 29, as high as 35. In fact, I even heard recently 42 percent.” Mr. Trump might be bombastic, but he’s not entirely wrong....

Recently...

We Are with Her!

Looking Forward to Four Years During Which Most if Not All of America's Potential for Human Progress Is Likely to Be Wasted

With each passing day Donald Trump looks more and more like Silvio Berlusconi: bunga-bunga governance, with a number of unlikely and unforeseen disasters and a major drag on the country--except in states where his policies are neutralized.

Definitely Worth Reading...

Probably Worth Reading...

Blogging: What to Expect Here

The purpose of this weblog is to be the best possible portal into what I am thinking, what I am reading, what I think about what I am reading, and what other smart people think about what I am reading...

"Bring expertise, bring a willingness to learn, bring good humor, bring a desire to improve the world—and also bring a low tolerance for lies and bullshit..." — Brad DeLong

"I have never subscribed to the notion that someone can unilaterally impose an obligation of confidentiality onto me simply by sending me an unsolicited letter—or an email..." — Patrick Nielsen Hayden

"I can safely say that I have learned more than I ever would have imagined doing this.... I also have a much better sense of how the public views what we do. Every economist should have to sell ideas to the public once in awhile and listen to what they say. There's a lot to learn..." — Mark Thoma

"Tone, engagement, cooperation, taking an interest in what others are saying, how the other commenters are reacting, the overall health of the conversation, and whether you're being a bore..." — Teresa Nielsen Hayden

"With the arrival of Web logging... my invisible college is paradise squared, for an academic at least. Plus, web logging is an excellent procrastination tool.... Plus, every legitimate economist who has worked in government has left swearing to do everything possible to raise the level of debate and to communicate with a mass audience.... Web logging is a promising way to do that..." — Brad DeLong

"Blogs are an outlet for unexpurgated, unreviewed, and occasionally unprofessional musings.... At Chicago, I found that some of my colleagues overestimated the time and effort I put into my blog—which led them to overestimate lost opportunities for scholarship. Other colleagues maintained that they never read blogs—and yet, without fail, they come into my office once every two weeks to talk about a post of mine..." — Daniel Drezner